By David Young · March 11, 2024
Genre is an odd word with varying definitions depending on how you mean it: Is it the type of story? The setting? The main conflict or goal? The answer in every case is “probably.” But just like romance, thrillers, and dramas, action films have a number of places where their lines cross with other genres. Horror, sci-fi, fantasy, adventure, comedy, and so on—all giving distinctly different results that set the iconic films below apart, despite them all being fantastic action flicks.
Sometimes, the sequel is better than the original. Such is the case with the Terminator series, where Judgment Day’s blend of science-fiction and action created a quotable 1990s classic that spurred interest in the franchise for decades to come.
As a technically perfect action film in one writer’s very serious opinion, you can start with Terminator 2 and enjoy it on its own just fine.
Download the script!
This Western doesn’t take its time with gunfights and townsfolk raising hell. As a Wild West rendition of Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai (1954), this film’s epic soundtrack and several invasion scenes showcase the struggle between the guns-for-hire and the bandits led by Calvera (Eli Wallach).
The story is so riveting that it prompted Quentin Tarantino’s retelling in 2016, with a version of the story even more focused on gunfire and explosions.
Download the script!
Speculative fiction never feels as desolate, dangerous, and action-packed as it is in the post-apocalyptic wasteland of the Australian Outback with a bunch of crazed, antisocial scavengers.
Still, Mad Max: Fury Road manages to turn that premise of the franchise into a high-speed chase—except the usual rules have all gone out the window.
Download the script!
John Wick is a revenge story done right. John Wick (Keanu Reeves) had a life before his life that just ended. After losing his wife, he only had his dog left.
After criminals kill his dog, he then has no choice but to pick up that old life as a hitman and get revenge on them. Beautifully choreographed fight scenes make this action thriller a spectacle that earned its sequels.
Download the script!
Science-fantasy with philosophical underpinnings is the calling card of the ’90s, but The Matrix topped off the whole decade with staples that completely upended the genre.
With bullet-time scenes, tense chases, an epic tale set up by prophecy, and a touch of the human spark, The Matrix defined the action genre for a while.
Download the script!
John McClane (Bruce Willis) learns that his wife’s entire Christmas party—and the skyscraper it’s in—are under attack by aggressive German radicals.
When these criminals finally get a fistful of this man’s unexpected protective adrenaline rush, they learn what a big mistake the heist was. With high-octane movement, humor, and just desserts, Die Hard fits the ’80s action genre to a T.
Download the script!
The first Top Gun had action, but it was a different kind of movie altogether. In Maverick, the stakes are greater, the mission is a bigger part of the plot, and what happens to Pete Mitchell (Tom Cruise) during that mission gives this movie clear status as a scintillating action-drama—not just any old movie about Navy fighter pilots.
Download the script!Read More: The Hero’s Journey Script Breakdown: Top Gun: Maverick
As a heist movie where the wheelman is a prodigy truck driver, this flick puts audiences through the wringer as they watch Baby (Ansel Elgort) fall in again with the wrong crowd right when things get even rougher. As any audience knows, a heist that goes sideways is a guarantee for action, and that goes double when your getaway driver is at odds with the job at hand.
Download the script!
As a victim of treachery, Maximus (Russell Crowe) falls from great heights as a Roman general to become a slave, taken into tourneys where he fights to the death. Maximus and his talent as a fighter make him an undefeated champion, and gives him the hope that it’ll bring him close enough to the ones who betrayed him.
Download the script!
A true action comedy with plenty of precursors to draw on, Nicolas Cage stars as a fictional version of himself, an action star planning to retire from acting. But once he reluctantly agrees to collaborate with an eccentric billionaire, he unwittingly becomes party to a climactic showdown involving a kidnapping and the CIA.
Download the script!
The capstone to an epic, years-long journey within the Marvel Cinematic Universe brings us a superhero flick where the heroes have lost quite a lot, especially in the face of the complex, almost-omnipotent antagonist, Thanos (Josh Brolin).
Those losses then empower the heroes in the lurch as they make headway for a satisfying conclusion unlike any other in the history of comic book cinema.
Download the script!
An assassin (Uma Thurman) is betrayed just before her wedding by her boss Bill (David Carradine) and fellow assassins while carrying her boss’ child, leading to her years-long coma and a thirst for vengeance.
Tarantino’s version of a martial arts film gave birth to an iconic series of films, starting with the Bride and her foremost goal: to kill Bill.
Download the script!
The quintessential blend of fantasy and adventure, this action movie has all the 1990s quippy hero nonsense that makes it a classic—and what helped to fuel its progress as a franchise in later years.
Brendan Fraser’s performance as a dashing scoundrel, an ancient force of evil, and a star-crossed romance are just some of the wow factor from this timeless flick.
Download the script!
The action genre isn’t complete without mentioning the spy thriller subgenre, and this third adaptation of the Ian Fleming novel is an exemplar where all the right moves are made to build suspense throughout.
Meanwhile, even without the poker, this film also showcases high-stakes moments (pun intended) of full-throttle action—like the black-and-white fight scene intercut that debuted Daniel Craig as 007 for the next 15 years of an undying tradition.
Download the script!
With its deep roots in horror, Aliens is one complex example of the mix between good old monster movies and a high-octane sci-fi flick.
As a direct sequel to Alien, this flick brings Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) back decades after her horrific encounter with the killer alien aboard the Nostromo. Her discovery of familiar eggs in another world brings her face-to-face with the same terror she faced before—this time with a bigger arsenal and a lot more aliens to face.
Download the script!
Lethal Weapon set the pace and popularity for the action-comedy subgenre, even staying number one at the box office for three weeks.
This paragon of buddy cop films used onscreen chemistry to highlight disparities between Riggs (Mel Gibson) and Murtagh (Danny Glover)—unwilling partner cops who couldn’t be more different if they tried.
Download the script!Read More: Screenwriting Tips from Action Movie Screenwriter Shane Black: Part 2
As our all-time favorite adventuring archaeologist, Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) had to be the one to seek the long-lost Ark of the Covenant before actual forces of evil find it and use it as their own.
In an operatic journey, we watch this treasure hunt turn into an arms race against Nazi Germany. If you’re a fan of watching heroes, circumstances, and even godly relics put the Gestapo in their place, this adventure flick is worth watching again and again.
Download the script!—
Whether you’re watching fighting assassins, car chases, or traditional Western action-adventure stories with gun-slinging or whip-lashing, the action hits differently depending on the setting and the conflicts in place.
Reading these scripts can give you an even better sense of how each film integrates action with its other genres to make something truly spectacular in each case!
Read More: 3 Screenwriting Tips for Action that Sizzles
Martin Keady · March 6, 2024
Steven Hartman · March 18, 2024
David Young · March 13, 2024
Martin Keady · March 6, 2024
Steven Hartman · March 4, 2024
